Editing Burning Man (section)

=== 1990 to 1996 ===
[[File:Burning Man 1995.webm|thumb|right|thumbtime=07:07|start=02:31|[[8mm film]] footage of Burning Man in 1995 by Ammon Haggerty|202x202px]]
In 1990, a separate event was planned by Kevin Evans and [[John Law (American artist)|John Law]] on the remote and largely unknown [[dry lake|''playa'']], known as the [[Black Rock Desert]], about {{convert|110|miles}} north of [[Reno]], Nevada.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://laughingsquid.com/bad-day-at-black-rock-cacophony-society-zone-trip-4/ |title=Bad Day at Black Rock (Cacophony Society Zone Trip #4) |publisher=Laughingsquid.com |date=January 18, 2007 |access-date=March 31, 2012 |archive-date=September 14, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090914103909/http://laughingsquid.com/bad-day-at-black-rock-cacophony-society-zone-trip-4/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Evans conceived it as a [[dadaist]] [[temporary autonomous zone]] with sculptures to be burned and [[Situationist International|situationist]] performance art. He asked John Law, who also had experience on the dry lake and was a defining founder of the [[Cacophony Society]], to take on central organizing functions of the events. In the Cacophony Society's newsletter, it was announced as Zone Trip No. 4, A Bad Day at Black Rock (inspired by the 1955 [[Bad Day at Black Rock|film of the same name]]).

Meanwhile, the solstice burn at Baker Beach was interrupted by the park police for not having a permit. After striking a deal to raise the Man but not to burn it, event organizers disassembled it and returned it to the vacant lot where it had been built. Shortly thereafter, the legs and torso of the Man were chain-sawed, and the pieces were removed when the space was unexpectedly leased as a parking lot. The Man was reconstructed, led by Dan Miller, Harvey's then-housemate of many years, just in time to take it to Zone Trip No. 4.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.burningman.com/whatisburningman/1986_1996/ |title=What is Burning Man?: Early Years |publisher=Burning Man |access-date=March 31, 2012 |archive-date=October 14, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081014070209/http://www.burningman.com/whatisburningman/1986_1996/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

Michael Mikel, another active Cacophonist, realized that participants unfamiliar with the environment of the dry lake would benefit from knowledgeable persons helping to ensure they did not get lost in the deep dry lake and risk dehydration and death. He took the name Danger Ranger and created the Black Rock Rangers to assist them. Thus, Black Rock City began as a fellowship organized by Law and Mikel, based on Evans's and Grauberger's ideas and Harvey's and James's symbolic man. Drawing on experience in the sign business and with light sculpture, Law prepared custom neon tubes for the Man starting in 1991 so it could be seen as a beacon to aid navigation at night long before there were any planned roads.

In its early years, the community grew by word of mouth alone, and all were considered (and generally not invited until they could be expected to be) participants in their contribution to the cacophonous situationist vibe. There were no paid or scheduled performers or artists, no separation between art and life nor art space and living space, no rules other than "Don't interfere with anyone else's immediate experience" and "no guns in central camp".

1991 marked the first year that the event had a legal permit through the BLM (the [[Bureau of Land Management]]).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nv.blm.gov/news_releases/Press_Releases/fy06_releases/nr_wfo_33.htm |date=June 8, 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060923001623/http://www.nv.blm.gov/news_releases/Press_Releases/fy06_releases/nr_wfo_33.htm |archive-date=September 23, 2006 |title=BURNING MAN RECEIVES FIVE-YEAR PERMIT |work=BLM News |publisher=United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management}}</ref> It was also the year that art model and fire dancer (and later Burning Man's first art director) ''Crimson Rose'' attended the event.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.everfest.com/magazine/meet-the-woman-who-brought-fire-dancing-to-burning-man |title=Meet the Woman Who Brought Fire Dancing to Burning Man |work=Everfest |access-date=March 9, 2018 |archive-date=March 9, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180309182756/https://www.everfest.com/magazine/meet-the-woman-who-brought-fire-dancing-to-burning-man |url-status=live}}</ref> 1992 saw the birth of a smaller, intensive, nearby event named "Desert Siteworks", conceived and directed by William Binzen and co-produced (in 1993 and '94) with Judy West.<ref>({{cite book |last=Doherty |first=Brian |title=This Is Burning Man |publisher=[[Benbella Books]] |date=July 2006 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=799JDtofMpEC&q=desert+siteworks+trego&pg=PT54 |access-date=June 13, 2014 |isbn=978-1-932100-86-0 |archive-date=October 10, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231010011754/https://books.google.com/books?id=799JDtofMpEC&q=desert+siteworks+trego&pg=PT54#v=snippet&q=desert%20siteworks%20trego&f=false |url-status=live}})</ref> There were about 20 participants the first year, and approximately 100 in the second and third year. The annual, several weeks-long event, was held over summer Solstice at various fertile hot springs surrounding the desert. Participants built art and participated in self-directed performances.<ref name="Olivier">{{cite web |last=Olivier |first=Bonin |title=Dust & Illusions. Documentary on 30 Years of Burning Man history |url=http://dustandillusions.com |date=March 2009 |quote=William Binzen was extensively interviewed for the film, with cross-references from Burning Man organizations' co-founders. |access-date=July 9, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170531032449/http://dustandillusions.com/ |archive-date=May 31, 2017 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

Some key organizers of Burning Man were also part of [[Desert Siteworks]] (Law, Mikel) and Binzen was a friend of Harvey. Hence, the two events saw much cross-pollination of ideas and participants.<ref name="Olivier" /> The Desert Siteworks project ran for three years (1992–1994). 1996 was the first year a formal partnership was created to own the name "Burning Man" and was also the last year the event was held in the middle of the Black Rock Desert with no fence around it.

Before the event opened to the public in 1996, a worker named Michael Furey was killed in a motorcycle crash<ref name="Doherty2006">{{cite book |last=Doherty |first=Brian |title=This Is Burning Man |publisher=[[Benbella Books]] |date=July 2006 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=799JDtofMpEC&q=Furey&pg=PT65 |access-date=October 21, 2018 |isbn=978-1-932100-86-0 |archive-date=October 10, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231010011755/https://books.google.com/books?id=799JDtofMpEC&q=Furey&pg=PT65#v=snippet&q=Furey&f=false |url-status=live}}</ref> while riding from [[Gerlach, Nevada]], to the Burning Man camp in the Black Rock Desert. Harvey insisted that the death had not occurred at Burning Man, since the gates were not yet open. Another couple were run over in their tent by an art car driving to the "rave camp", which was at that time distant from the main camp. After the 1996 event, Law [[John Law (American artist)#Founders' conflict|broke with Burning Man]] and publicly said the event should not continue.